Helldiver troops are sent into battle with one primary weapon as well as a sidearm. There are 22 primary weapons to choose from in total, each falling into one of several categories depending on their characteristics, such as assault rifles or shotguns.

The P-2 Peacemaker is the standard-issue sidearm and is always equipped unless the player selects one of three Perk sidearms.

Most weapons are unlocked when the player reaches certain Ranks, while others are made available at any Rank to players who purchase the relevant DLC Pack.

Every weapon (except for the three Pistol Perks) has multiple upgrades which can be purchased with Research Points. These can raise the weapon's efficiency greatly by increasing damage and magazine size; or provide unique bonuses like incendiary or armour-piercing rounds.

Additionally, some primary weapons are classed as one-handed. When mortally wounded, while carrying a Black Box/Power Core or when transporting an artillery shell, this trait allows players to continue to use primary weapons instead of being forced to swap to their sidearm.

When holding a Black Box, Power Core or artillery shell, it is possible to switch between your one-handed primary weapon and your sidearm (and vice versa) by pressing and holding the 'weapon switch' button (triangle on PS3/PS4).

Players can also equip certain Stratagems which, during combat, allow them to call down heavy weapons (also known as support weapons or secondary weapons). These Stratagems must first be unlocked by successfully completing all missions on their associated planet or purchasing the relevant DLC. Players are only capable of carrying one heavy weapon at a time during combat.

Heavy weapons fall into several categories, with some (for example, the LAS-98 Laser Cannon) essentially being more powerful versions of certain primary weapons; while others have special attributes (for example, the TOX-13 Avenger's ability to slow down enemies) which can make them invaluable in some situations.

Grenades are thrown explosives which are mapped to a dedicated input. All Helldivers spawn with, and can only carry, two grenades at a time, but picking up Ammunition restocks all missing grenades. There are four types of grenades:

Fragmentation Grenades: The default type of grenade, these explode into a multitude of fragments which deal significant damage to all enemies, Helldivers, objects and vehicles which are not protected by tank-level armor.

Stun Grenades: Rather than exploding into deadly fragments, these throwables release concussive waves which stun all Helldivers and enemies in a large radius (except for stun-immune enemies such as IFVs). The associated Perk unlocks at rank 5 (Warrant).

Smoke Grenades: Rather than exploding into deadly fragments, these throwables release clouds of smoke which block enemies' lines of sight without impairing movement. The associated Perk unlocks at rank 15 (Colonel).

Incendiary Grenades: Rather than exploding into deadly fragments, these throwables release patches of napalm which set flammable units on fire, and destroy Illuminate projectiles. The associated Perk unlocks at rank 17 (Commodore).

As is mentioned in the in-game tips, many weapons can be reloaded more quickly if the player reloads before emptying the full magazine. Fully emptying the magazine leads to a significantly slower reload time for those weapons, until the first successful fast reload has been performed with that specific weapon during a given mission (or until you are killed). After this, all further reloads (even with a fully emptied clip) are of the "fast" variety. In short: if you keep emptying the entire magazine every time before reloading, you will have a slow reload every time until you do a fast one.

Successful fast reloads do not carry over between a player's sidearm, primary weapon and secondary weapon. Interestingly, picking up a secondary weapon that has been fast-reloaded will reset it, and it will revert to the slower reload when fully-emptied until a fast reload has been successfully performed.

Many weapons that let players perform a fast reload have an additional benefit: it retains a single round (bullet) in the chamber after changing out the clip (if it has not been fully emptied). This gives the player one additional round of ammunition in addition to the full clip inserted after reloading. This even works for the AC-22 Dum-Dum autocannon.

In lieu of magazines, weapons based on Laser and Arc technology use an overheat gauge and a charge-building mechanic, respectively. As such, neither the fast reload nor chambered round mechanics apply to these classes of weapons at all.

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